War Thrust This Ukrainian Psychiatric Hospital Onto the Front Lines

CHERNIHIV, Ukraine — Raisa Pustovoit was hiding here in the basement of a psychiatric hospital when Russian soldiers arrived, pointing guns and flashlights at her and other terrified patients who had fled there.

For two centuries, a hospital has operated here on the fringes of wider Ukrainian society, with patients largely abandoned by their families because of their mental health and learning disabilities. But Russia’s advances brought them to the frontlines of the war, uniting this forgotten group with a desire to survive and support one another.